Seeking The Dragon

by Sarah J. Stone

  He saw no signs of her, however. Not wanting to stir up questions about who he was or why he was there, he did his best to blend in, but having not found her even after looking around for almost an hour’s time, he was about to give in and ask for her by name. It was just too much for him to have come all this way and walk out without having seen her.

  “Caine? Did you collect on the tab that fellow from down south owes us from last night?” a woman’s voice asked. “He’s here again now, and I hope you aren’t still letting him drink on the house’s good graces.”

  Advik turned around slowly to look at her, and he knew instinctively that it was his mother. He started to speak, but she had already seen him looking at her. She abandoned her conversation with the other man and walked toward where he sat at the bar, leaning over it toward him and scrutinizing his face quietly. There was a look on her face, one of familiarity and perhaps a bit of sadness.

  “Do I know you?” she asked.

  “I… I…” he stammered, finding a lack of words at a time so important to him.

  “Go ahead, boy. Answer Miss Cassi. She asked you a question!” the large man named Caine barked at him.

  Advik panicked. He couldn’t tell her who he was, not just yet. Instead, he found himself lying to her, his own mother.

  “I don’t think so. I’ve only just come to town. I’m looking for work if you know of any,” he managed.

  “What is your name?” she asked, a suspicious look in her eye.

  “A… Tio,” he replied.

  “Atio?” she replied, seeming uncertain after his long pause.

  “No. Just Tio,” he replied, embarrassed.

  “Well, Tio. You’ve come to the right place. There is a man sitting right over there who was just asking earlier for men, who aren’t afraid to do a hard day’s labor out in the fields. If you can grow a potato or build a shed, you are probably in.”

  “I can do either. Thank you, ma’am.”

  “Another pint?” she asked.

  “No. I’m afraid I can barely afford the one.”

  “Then that one and the one I’m about to give you are on the house.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean I needed charity,” he told her, his eyes never leaving hers.

  “It’s not charity. It’s just a gift to a young man who looks like he’s come a very long way and could use a second drink,” she told him, refilling his tankard with another beer and a wink. “Are you staying at the inn?”

  “No. I found an abandoned little cottage down by the stream and stayed there last night.”

  “The one that is all grown over? You’re lucky it didn’t fall in on you! Go talk to the man over there. If he doesn’t hire you, come back over here and I’ll find you a better place to stay until we can get you a job and a decent roof over your head.”

  He was near tears as he thanked her, overwhelmed by the kindness of a woman he had loved since he was old enough to learn about her. Now, he was here, and he wanted desperately to reveal himself to her, but he was afraid. Maybe one day, but not today. Until the right time presented itself, he would keep his identity a secret and just try to blend in. He watched as she turned to walk away, returning to some recess behind the bar. He finished his beer before walking over to the man who might be able to provide a job for him.

  He didn’t see his mother again that night, but he did return to the man’s camp with him. The man gave him shelter and food, and told him to get his rest. Tomorrow would be a hard day in the fields for him.

  Each day, he worked hard behind a hand plow, tilling the fields in preparation for crops. Every evening, he returned to the pub in hopes of seeing his mother there.

  As time passed, he and his mother became friends – not mother and son, but friends. At night, he would sneak away from the quarters that housed farm hands and lay beneath the stars to look upward. There were always shadows overhead, the dragon shifters stretching their wings under darkness. People knew about them here, but it wasn’t discussed, and the dragons kept a low profile. He wondered if any of the shadows were his mother. Also where she went when she flew. He never told her who he was, and she never asked him questions about where he had come from, but somewhere deep down, he thought that perhaps she knew.

  Then came one summer day when everything changed for him. His solitary life of working, eating, sleeping, and visiting the pub owned by his mother’s family afforded him the opportunity to meet a young woman named Maggie. At first, they seemed like an awkward match. He was tall and dark like his father, and she was petite, with hair the color of the strawberry fruit that grew wild in the fields and big, green eyes. Freckles splattered wildly across her face. He thought they might be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, as was she.

  “Do I need to have a talk with you about my daughter?” his employer asked the following day, as he caught a glimpse of them exchanging looks across the field.,

  “No. I’m sorry, sir. I meant no harm.”

  “Then make no harm,” the man said bluntly, walking away.

  Tio knew that a man such as himself was not fit to court the daughter of a wealthy land owner. His admiration of her would just have to consist of what glimpses he could get from afar. He thought about how sad his life was, always watching from the distance. First, his mother, and now, this maiden who he already adored, without as much as a word passing between them. He was surprised when his employer called him aside again a few weeks later to talk to him.

  “Tio, I’ve noticed that you still cannot keep your eyes off my daughter.”

  “I’m sorry, sir. I try. I do try.”

  The man waved his hand toward him, indicating that he shouldn’t continue, then shaking his head sadly from side to side.

  “It seems you aren’t the only one. I’ve noticed that she watches you, too,” he continued.

  “She does?” Tio asked excitedly, garnering a scowl from the man. He quickly dropped his head and tried not to continue to smile, lest he really anger him.

  “A lot of men would tell their daughters that a man like you, toiling out in the field, is not fit for them, but I’m not one of those men, Tio.”

  Tio raised his head slowly, confused by what the man was saying, but remaining silent to listen to his words.

  “I have no family here, and she is my only child. She needs a man who will take care of her and work hard to provide. I know you have nothing. If you did, you wouldn’t be working yourself to the bone out in my fields, but I see something in you. I think you would make a good husband one day.”

  “I don’t understand,” Tio said, still uncertain.

  “I’m saying that if she will have you, I am giving you my permission to court my daughter.”

  “Sir, that would be wonderful,” Tio said, practically breathing the words out rather than speaking them.

  “Just make sure that you take good care of her. I won’t be here forever. Continue to work hard, and this place will belong to the two of you when I pass. Until then, I expect your common decency to extend to my daughter’s virtue unless you commit yourself to her under the eyes of God.”

  “I promise, sir. I do.”

  “Very well then. After work today, go get yourself cleaned up and come up to the house for a meal. Proper introductions will be made, and we will see how it goes from there.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Tio said excitedly.

  So, for the first time since arriving in the Mournes, Tio didn’t go to the pub to see his mother. Instead, he went to Maggie’s house, and within moments of meeting her, he knew he was completely smitten with her.

  Chapter 3

  In the weeks that followed, Tio felt like he was floating above the ground much of the time. Though he was exhausted from long days in the field, evenings with Maggie, and the dreams that kept him awake at night, he was blissfully happy. Things were going so well, and he could only see them getting better.

  “What do you want to do tonight?” he asked her as she brought him a gourd filled
with cool water from the stream.

  Tio took a healthy drink from it and passed it to one of the men working near him. She always brought him fresh water when he was in the fields during the heat of the day, and he always shared it with whomever was nearby. Though plenty of water was provided to the men as they worked, it was not as fresh and clear as what she brought out to him.

  Her bright eyes glimmered in the sunlight as it poured down upon them. It was a shame that he had to be out here with the crops. Days like this weren’t often found in Ireland. Life here meant you had accepted that you would spend your days in rain and fog, pretty much year-round. It was great for the crops, but not as nice for the people tending them, toiling in soggy clothes and muddy plains.

  “I thought we might go for a flight. Father said I could stay out a bit later so we could fly out over the sea a bit. He won’t let me go it alone, but he trusts you. So do I.”

  Tio could feel his heart thudding against his chest. It was a reminder of what he was and, more to the point, what he wasn’t. What was she going to think of him when he was forced to tell her the truth? He wanted to tell her, but it was too soon and he was afraid of losing her. Still, how did he get around the fact that he wasn’t a dragon shifter, but something even worse, at least in the eyes of her kind: a tiger shifter?

  “I don’t know. I would love to, but it’s been so hot out here today. I feel a bit tired.”

  “Oh, come on, Tio. You never want to fly! Are you afraid I’m faster than you? You’ve never even seen my dragon, and I’ve never seen yours.”

  ‘And you never will,’ he thought to himself. Living a lie was a horrible predicament. What could he ever say to her that wasn’t a lie but didn’t expose him? He had no idea, so he attempted to buy himself the rest of the day to think about it, instead.

  “I’m sorry. Let’s just see how I feel,” he told her. “Okay?”

  “Okay,” she replied with a shrug.

  The disappointment was evident on her face, and he hated it. He knew that she really cared about him. When they didn’t talk about shifting, everything between them was wonderful. They laughed and teased one another playfully and stole innocent kisses when no one was looking. He knew that she wanted to be with him, wanted to be with him in every way, but his continued denial of anything that brought him closer into her way of living was a wedge between them that he wasn’t sure how to get around.

  “I need to get back to work,” he told her, handing her back the gourd as another man nearby passed it back to him.

  As usual, it had gone through a half dozen hands before being returned to him to give back to her. The workers who would work near him had begun rotating to get the fresh water he shared. They didn’t discuss it with him, but he had noticed their quiet rotation and found it somewhat amusing. There wasn’t a thing wrong with it in his eyes, and he doubted that Maggie thought any differently, as he had noticed that the size of the gourd she used had grown considerably since the first time she had brought water and he had handed it around.

  “She’s a good woman,” one of them told him after she had strolled out of earshot.

  “Aye. That she is,” he replied.

  “You’re a lucky man, Tio Sheaver. That girl hasn’t had an eye for a soul on the farm until you showed up, and I don’t think she was ever able to take her eyes off of you from the day you stepped on the dirt here.”

  “I am a lucky man. I can’t deny that to you,” Tio laughed, returning to his work of pulling the weeds from the plants below.

  The conversation fell away as they both got busy again. Tio was consumed with thoughts about how to handle the situation with her tonight. He couldn’t keep making excuses or he stood to lose her. Women expected their men to be strong and virile. Demonstrating the power of their dragon was a ritual in this place. If he couldn’t do that, she would think he was deformed or weak in some other way that made him an unworthy partner.

  That night, he left the fields and cleaned up a bit before heading over to her house for the evening tea. After a strained chat around the table, they took their leave under a caution from her father.

  “Don’t fly out too far, and don’t be too late!” he told them as they left.

  “He’s such a worrier,” she laughed.

  “I think that is a requirement of fathers,” he said.

  “What about your father?” she asked. “Do fathers worry about sons like they do daughters?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think fathers have as much to worry about with sons, but I know mine worried about me.”

  “Worried? He isn’t around anymore?” she asked, reaching for his hand as they strolled in the fading daylight toward the cliffs.

  “No. He died shortly before I came here.”

  “I’m sorry, Tio. And your mother?”

  “I’ve never known my mother. My father lost her when I was just a baby.”

  “Tio, that’s terrible. I can’t imagine not having a mother or a father!”

  “You get used to it. I miss my father, but I have good memories of him. I carry him with me wherever I go.”

  “Where are you from? Father said you came here from a long way away.”

  “I lived on the south of the island, not far from the sea.”

  “Was it nice there? Why did you leave?” she asked, pausing and looking at him as she spoke.

  Tio smiled at her. He wanted so badly to tell her the truth – all of it. He wanted to tell her that he couldn’t fly, but he could run faster than she could soar above him. He wanted to shift and let her stroke his fur. She would have seen many dragons in her life, but he was sure she had never seen a tiger. He wanted this horrible pain inside him at having to lie to her to go away, but he was terrified that the truth would drive her away. It wasn’t fair to her, he knew, but he just didn’t want this to end.

  “I just needed a change of pace. Where I was, it was lonely. There are more people here. The other guys that work in the fields with me; not the married ones that go home to wives and children, but the single ones that have no family and sleep in the workers’ quarters, they have become like family to me. It’s like having dozens of brothers – some I don’t like, and some I do,” he laughed.

  “That is both beautiful and sad,” she replied, turning to walk again.

  “It is just life, Maggie. We do what we have to do in order to survive and, if we are lucky, we find someone to share it with so that it isn’t so lonely. I’ve found brothers that share no blood with me, and I’ve found something more now.”

  “Something more?” she asked, glancing in his direction.

  “Something that is much more. I’ve found you. From the day I saw you standing out in the field, I knew that you and I were meant to be together. Of course, I figured that someone like you, someone of your standing, would never be interested in a common field hand.”

  “There is nothing common about you. Even father agrees with that, and he’s a hard man to impress.”

  “I was surprised when he said I had his permission to court you. I’m even more surprised that he allows you such freedom to spend time alone with me.”

  “He trusts you. He says you are an honorable man. Father – unlike many of the men in similar standing around here – sees people for what they are and for their potential, rather than what they have or where they came from.”

  “I am glad that he does. Otherwise, I’d still just be admiring you from afar.”

  “As I would be doing with you,” she giggled.

  They stopped just short of the cliffs, one of them jutting out into the water and covered with trees. It was barely detached from a longer strip of island that expanded well out toward the sea. Tio got an idea. It wasn’t great, but it just might work.

  “I’ve got an idea. I’ll race you to the tip of that island,” he told her, pointing toward the long strip ahead of them.”

  “What? No way. You are bound to be faster than I am.”

  “I’ll give you a head start. I�
�ll turn around so that you can get undressed and shift, then let you take off before I do the same. It’ll give you a good advantage.”

  “You’re on!” she laughed.

  Tio smiled, inwardly breathing a sigh that was part relief and part nervousness. If this didn’t work, he’d have a lot of explaining to do. Turning around to face the other direction, he resisted the temptation to sneak a peek at her delicate body.

  “Alright, here I go!” she said excitedly.

  A moment later, he could hear the flap of her wings as they spread and took flight. He immediately turned, looking up at her shimmering silver and green color as she soared upward above the trees. He had no time to waste. Running into the edge of the woods, he stripped off his clothes and tied them in a knot before shifting and picking them up with his teeth. Then he was rushing through the woods, trees flying past as he raced to the top.

  He never broke stride as he approached the gap between the two islands, momentarily exposed from the cover of the trees as he soared across the divide. In his own way, for just a few seconds, he was flying. Then he landed heavily on the other side, almost missing his mark and slipping down the side of the exposed white cliff. His paws locked onto a nearby sapling of a tree and hoped it would hold as he used it to propel himself further over the edge and continue through the woods that ran along the top of it.

  A few minutes later, he heard Maggie land heavily on the ground behind him. Without turning, he spoke to her.

  “What took you so long?” he asked.

  “What? How? I didn’t even see you pass me!” she exclaimed.

  “I told you that I’m fast, didn’t I?” he replied.

  “I think there might be a word greater than just ‘fast’ to describe you!” she exclaimed.

  “Are you dressed?” he asked.

  “Dressed enough,” she told him.

  He turned to find her standing there in her undergarments and looked away. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to look, but he knew it was inappropriate.